On November 28, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan gave an interview with "Armenpress."

"During the quadrilateral meeting held in Prague, an agreement was reached regarding the next meeting. We continue to adhere to this agreement and again express our willingness to organize a meeting between the Prime Minister of Armenia, the President of Azerbaijan, the President of France, and the President of the European Council within acceptable terms. We believe that the meeting held in Prague in this format was quite effective and important in normalizing relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The Armenian side, as before, is interested in the regulation of relations," he stated.

"Baku once again voices the thesis about carrying out the demarcation process based on historical maps. What is the position of Yerevan in this regard?" he was asked.

"Such statements violate the commitment made in Prague and Sochi to carry out demarcation works between the two countries based on the UN Charter and the Alma-Ata Declaration. Within the framework of this commitment, the demarcation works must be carried out based on the legal acts that existed at the time of the collapse of the USSR in 1991 and had legal force and significance and based on the official documents of the structures that have the proper authority to carry out mapping, make maps, and publish maps as of the same date. Accordingly, to speak of historical maps is, to say the least, unclear, both in terms of definition and content," he stated. Mirzoyan added, "It should also be emphasized the danger of general rhetoric of historical maps for our countries' independence because focusing on historical maps may reveal that the territories of both the Republic of Armenia and, more specifically, the Republic of Azerbaijan have been the territories of other states for centuries."

"But in his speeches, constantly mentioning that Armenia recognized the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, the President of Azerbaijan never once said that Azerbaijan also recognized the territorial integrity of Armenia. Do this fact and the mention of various "historical" maps mean that Azerbaijan does not recognize the territorial integrity of Armenia and has ambitions for the territories of the Republic of Armenia?" Ararat Mirzoyan emphasized. The Minister added, "The President of Azerbaijan also states that peace has been established around his country and there is no danger of escalation; then, in response to another question, he states that if Armenia does not sign the peace treaty, there will be no peace. This means that the president of Azerbaijan is now responsible for any potential escalation, especially since Armenia is fully involved in substantive discussions of peace establishment."

"We regret to note that, despite the ongoing negotiations in different directions, the extremist and bellicose statements, baseless accusations directed at the Armenian side, and threats of using force do not stop on the part of Azerbaijan. In addition, the Azerbaijani armed forces continue to be located in the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia, and periodically provocative military actions take place on the part of Azerbaijan," he noted. The Minister added, "Combining these facts shows that the situation remains extremely tense, and all our international partners must make additional efforts to curb Azerbaijan's ambitions and preserve the fragile peace in the South Caucasus." He concluded: "The Armenian side, as before, is ready to make all efforts to find mutually acceptable solutions and to establish a long-term and stable peace in the region."

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